Sphodros rufipes
Encyclopedia
Mygalomorphae
The Mygalomorphae, , are an infraorder of spiders. The latter name comes from the orientation of the fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other .-Description:...
spider from the southern USA, though it has been photographed as far north as Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
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The species name rufipes is Latin for "red foot".
This spider is also sometimes known as Sphodros (Atypus) bicolor, a synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
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Description
These spiders are solid and strong-looking and their bodies are black. The males have distinctive long red or red-orange legs, and the females have black legs. Females are known to reach a length of about 25 mm, or just under an inch, though they may also get slightly larger. Like other spiders in its infraorder mygalomorphMygalomorphae
The Mygalomorphae, , are an infraorder of spiders. The latter name comes from the orientation of the fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other .-Description:...
, it has fangs that point straight down rather than crossing.